is A Bug’s Life anticapitalist (#1)?
A Bug’s Life (1998) explores blatant themes of exploitation and class consciousness wrapped up in a cute children’s movie about Ants. Rather than write a dissertation anointing A Bug’s Life as an Anticapitalist Masterpiece (many of these already exist), I will focus on just one of the brilliant anticapitalist messages in the movie: A Bug’s Life demonstrates how capitalism stifles ingenuity, individuality, and creativity.
In the very first scene of the movie, the audience is taught that all of the ants in the colony work one job and one job only: they harvest food under the management of the Queen and Princess Ants. (Though this terminology implies they function as royalty (that’s how ant colonies literally work) the “royal family” here really represents middle management. Also because of how ant colonies work, the bloodline is matriarchal!!! But that’s a whole different essay). It is as though there is one factory in town, run by the Queen, and all able-bodied citizens are required to work at the one factory, with no room for any other occupations or passions. For years, the ants have lived in fear of the Grasshoppers, slaving to prepare an annual offering for the Grasshoppers, so that they will not be punished and crushed.
When all members of a society are forced to work in one particular way day in and day out, all other instincts and vocations are stifled. From the get-go, A Bug’s Life is critical of this idea. The film opens with all of the ants in the colony working together to harvest food in a structured, methodical way. While a line of ants approaches the offering pile with their seeds, a leaf falls, blocking the path of the workers. Panic ensues as the ants yell “Oh no, I’m lost!!” and “We’ll be stuck here forever!” until a manager arrives to show them how to walk around the leaf and resume their march. This silly moment may seem inconsequential, but it sets up the idea that as a result of the ants’ rigid day-to-day structure, there is no room for individuality or ingenuity in their lives. This concept is further demonstrated by multiple characters in the movie.
Flik, the main character, has a knack for inventing new gadgets and technology but is consistently shut down. While all the other ants are in the assembly line, Flik is off on his own using an invention of his own to cut down grain and harvest seeds more quickly than the other ants. He is trying to increase their production, as the current method only allows them to harvest food for the Grasshoppers and not enough for the colony, but instead of embracing this idea, the other ants are horrified. He is told they “don’t have time for this” and to “get rid of that machine, get back in line, and pick grain like everybody else.” One of the elders also comments that they’ve “been harvesting the same way since [he] was a junebug.” The Hoppers have instilled so much fear in the ants that any new ideas are a threat to stability and the status quo. Even a more harmless invention, a telescope made of grass and a drop of dew, is tossed aside and considered useless. It is easier and safer for the Queens/Managers to continue with the system that has always been in place. Flik’s ideas are unwelcome, and he is told to stop innovating and follow the line like everyone else.
Just as Flik has trouble breaking through as an inventor in a capitalist world, A Bug’s Life also demonstrates how individuality and difference are vilified. Shortly after we meet Flik, the audience is introduced to a group of performer bugs travelling with a circus. Each of them has been “othered” and forced to perform in a degrading way that capitalizes off of audiences who like to laugh at circus “freaks.” In reality, each of them is a talented aspiring artist, but there is no place for them or their art in their world, and performing with the circus is what they must do to make ends meet. This group of bugs represents many different examples of marginalized people within a society. The LGBTQ community is represented in Rosie, a black widow spider with a slick, spiked up short hairdo that reads as queer. There are also multiple immigrant members of the group: Heimlich the Caterpillar from Germany and Tuck and Roll, two pill bug twins from Hungary. Rather than celebrate their differences and what they have to contribute to society, they are reduced to stereotypes for other bugs’ entertainment. Anytime one of them approaches the circus owner about creating an act with more artistic integrity, or at least one where they are not laughed at, they are dismissed and told they are only meant to be clowns.
When Flik and the artists join forces, their natural strengths as leaders and innovative members of society flourish. To defeat the Grasshoppers, they use their combined artistic and engineering skills to build a replica of a bird that will scare away their capitalist oppressors. Rather than continue slaving day and night to farm for the Grasshoppers, the ant colony embarks on this project together. The Bird Build is the A Bug’s Life version of The New Deal: it is a fun public works project that employs all the ants, improves their society, and allows the artists a chance to use their individuality as an asset. For example, Rosie the Black Widow uses her web-spinning abilities to bind the structure of the bird together rather than to tie up prey as she was expected to at the circus. For the first time, Flik and the artists’ innovation and differences are allowed to soar, and the results are beautiful. The Bird Build even allows the colony free time outside of work — an unimaginable concept in a world where the ants have to work every waking hour to survive. With this newfound freedom, they thrive, and have a lovely evening of music, singing, dancing, and merriment. The ants/workers get a glimpse of what life could be if they didn’t have to sell their labor to someone else; they’d have more than enough time in the day to harvest food for themselves, as well as energy to engage in creative, fun, additional projects.
Through teamwork and the radicalization of the entire ant workforce, Flik, the artists, and a group of young ant girl scouts scare the Grasshoppers away and free the ants from their capitalist clutches. The artists are now famous and beloved, no longer ridiculed for their differences, and celebrated as individuals. Flik’s inventions and ingenuity are also now appreciated and supported, as they helped bring about their freedom. It is no coincidence that these previously marginalized voices were the ones to lead the ants to a new world: the LGBTQ community, immigrants, artists, and creatives are often at the forefront of fights for justice. A Bug’s Life demonstrates how essential these members of our society are, and argues that they are in fact leaders who can push our world in the right direction. In a time when many people are hoping to return to the status quo, we must lift up these voices and follow their lead to a more equitable and just future.
